Friday, October 21, 2011

Rule 75 Production of Will; Allowance of Will NecessaryRule 76 Allowance or Disallowance of WillRule 77 Allowance of Will Proved Outside of PhilippinesRule 78 Letters Testamentary and of Administration of Estate ThereunderRule 79 Opposing Issuance of Letters Testamentary; Petition and Contest for Letters of AdministrationRule 80 Special AdministratorsRule 81 Bonds of Executors and AdministratorsRule 82 Revocation of Administration, Death, Resignation and removal of Executors and AdministratorsRule 83 Inventory and Appraisal; Provision for Support of FamilyRule 84 General Powers and Duties of Executors and AdministratorsRule 85 Accountability and Compensation of Executors and AdministratorsRule 86 Claims Against EstateRule 87 Actions by and against Executors and AdministratorsRule 88 Payments of the Debts of the EstateRule 89 Sales, Mortgages, and Other Encumbrances of Property of DecedentRule 90 Distribution and Partition of the Estate

Philippine law requires that a will, whether notarial or holographic, must be probated or allowed by a court before it can be given effect. Rule 75 of the Rules of Court states:

Sec. 1. Allowance necessary; Conclusive as to execution. - No will shall pass either real or personal estate unless it is proved and allowed in the proper court. Subject to the right of appeal, such allowance of the will shall be conclusive as to its due execution.

The Register of Deeds will not transfer the titles of lands to the persons named in the will unless they submit the court order approving the will.

The Regional Trial Court of the place where the testator (the person who executed the last will) died has jurisdiction over the probate of the will.

Within twenty days after knowing of the testator's death, the person who has custody of the will must deliver the will to the court or to the person named in the will as executor. In case of that person’s refusal to deliver the will, the court can impose a fine or order that person’s imprisonment until it is delivered.

Any executor, devisee, or legatee named in a will, or any other person interested in the estate, may, at any time after the death of the testator, petition the court having jurisdiction to have the will allowed, whether the same be in his possession or not, or is lost or destroyed.

Art. 854. The preterition or omission of one, some, or all of the compulsory heirs in the direct line, whether living at the time of the execution of the will or born after the death of the testator, shall annul the institution of heir; but the devises and legacies shall be valid insofar as they are not inofficious.

If the omitted compulsory heirs should die before the testator, the institution shall be effectual, without prejudice to the right of representation.

Art. 855. The share of a child or descendant omitted in a will must first be taken from the part of the estate not disposed of by the will, if any; if that is not sufficient, so much as may be necessary must be taken proportionally from the shares of the other compulsory heirs.

Simply stated, the law protects the right of the omitted compulsory heirs. The heirs can ask the court to annul the institution of heirs in the will. As Article 855 states, their share will be taken first from the so-called free portion; if that is not sufficient to complete their legitimes, the deficiency will be taken proportionally from the shares of the other heirs.

No preterition if compulsory heirs are mentioned in the will but get less than what they are entitled to under the law

Preterition does not occur if the testator mentions the compulsory heirs in the last will but assigns to them an amount less than what they are entitled under the law. In this situation, the disadvantaged heirs can compel the other heirs to contribute until their legitimes are satisfied.

Depriving compulsory heirs of their inheritance

The only way for compulsory heirs to be deprived of their inheritance is through a valid disinheritance. Please read my posts:

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I took these pictures when I was a journalism teacher and yearbook adviser in Rizal High School in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines from 1984 to 1995. Rizal High School was once credited in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest high school. Hello to all Rizalians!

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“Marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman who agree to live together as husband and wife for as long as they both live. We have chosen each other carefully and have received premarital counseling on the nature, purposes and responsibilities of marriage. We understand that a covenant marriage is for life.”